Kingsley, a mainstay on country radio for the last 40 years, arrived thinking that he was introducing a video for an event. He didn’t know the evening was in honor of his Kingsley’s 40 years on country radio – time he spent as the voice of "American Country Countdown" and host and executive producer of "Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40."

“I think he’s the Johnny Carson of ‘The Tonight Show,’ the Jay Leno of ‘The Tonight Show,’ he’s Bob Kingsley of ‘American Country Countdown,’” said Garth Brooks before he took the stage with wife and fellow country star Trisha Yearwood to honor Kingsley. “He’s where you always want to hear your music. And then once you go on his show, he makes everybody feel like somebody. But he’s not two-faced. He’s not putting it on. This is truly how he is – a sincere, sweet man that loves the music and I think more than that even, he loves the artists that do it.”

Bob Kingsley enjoys the tribute in his honor for his 40 years on country radio – time he spent as the voice of America’s Country Countdown. (Photo: Larry McCormack/The Tennessean)

“It’s epic,” Young said, before performing his new single “Who I Am With You.” “It’s life-changing. It’s something I looked forward to for a long, long time and I’ve been lucky enough to hear you talking about (my songs) going up. It’s not nearly as fun hearing you talk about it as it’s going back down.”

For Eli Young Band, hearing its name on his show was meaningful – but something else Kingsley said stuck with band members even more.

“Hearing you say you were proud of us was like getting your dad’s approval,” said singer Mike Eli. “We hope all of your dreams come true.”

CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE for a gallery of country singer Wynonna Judd performing a Valentine's program at Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Friday (Photo: Karen Kraft / The Tennessean)

When Kenny Rogers was forced to cancel his weekend performances with the Nashville Symphony because of illness, Wynonna Judd stepped in for his pair of Valentine’s weekend shows. Judd, who performed with the Nashville Symphony as part of its Bank of America Pops Series in 2011, replaced her fellow country singer for both the Friday and Saturday night concerts at Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The Nashville-area resident came to popularity with her mother Naomi Judd in duo The Judds and is known for solo hits including “She Is His Only Need” and “No One Else on Earth.”

Fellow country singer Wynonna Judd will step in to headline the Feb. 14-15 shows at Schermerhorn Symphony Center with a Valentine’s program.

Tickets previously purchased for Rogers’ show will be honored for Judd’s concert.Rogers tickets can also be exchanged for an upcoming Bank of America Pops Series or Aegis Sciences Classical Series concert.

Judd, who has had hits with songs including “She Is His Only Need” and “No One Else on Earth,” will play Schermerhorn Symphony Center 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $39-$115 and are available at NashvilleSymphony.org, Schermerhorn Symphony Center box office or by calling 615-687-6400.

Click for a gallery of Kenny Rogers over the years (photo: Jae S. Lee/The Tennessean)

Kenny Rogers will play Schermerhorn Symphony Center with the Nashville Symphony on Friday, Valentine’s Day, and Saturday. And while he’s helping create romantic moments for Nashville couples, his wife will be searching for another date.

The couple traditionally joins eight or 10 of its friends for Valentine’s dinner, but this year, Rogers will likely be playing “Lady” on the Schermerhorn stage as the group’s main course is being served.

“Wanda will have to go without me,” he said.

But Rogers said the sacrifice is worth it. He has played the Schermerhorn before and said that it is “really acoustically wonderful.”

“I love working with the symphony,” Rogers said. “It’s a chance for me to do a lot of my old stuff and hear it with the symphony, which is very rewarding. I remember the first night I worked there, I was playing a song I hadn’t played in a really long time and the strings started playing and I almost stopped. I thought, ‘Wow, that’s really pretty.’ You have to stay on your toes.”

Country newcomer Kacey Musgraves and multiplatinum-selling country crossover Taylor Swift emerged as the top Nashville nominees when the Recording Academy announced nominations for its 56th annual Grammy Awards on Friday night, many of which were revealed during a live television concert on CBS. Jay Z tops overall nominations with nine.

Nashville’s Musgraves and Swift each had four nominations. They also tied for the top nominee for November’s CMA Awards.

LL Cool J hosted the show, which took place in Nashville in 2012 but this year returned to Los Angeles. Friday night’s show featured Swift and fellow Nashvillians Keith Urban and Ed Sheeran.

Newly minted Country Music Hall of Famer Kenny Rogers looked up from his seat at a large conference table at his record label and asked, “It never quits, does it?”

This year, the answer is no.

In the past 13 months, Rogers has released his memoir, “Luck or Something Like It”; co-written his first novel, “What are the Chances”; and played the famed Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary and Performing Arts in England for more than 100,000 fans.

In October the “Gambler” singer released his 35th studio album, “You Can’t Make Old Friends,” and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. On Wednesday night, he will be honored during the 47th annual CMA Awards with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. Then, he’s going on his annual Christmas tour.

CMA Awards executive producer Robert Deaton is a longtime fan of Rogers, and while he’s been in the business of scheduling tributes for years, he feels a special connection to this one.

“I remember the years where he was nominated when I was a kid laying in my living room on the floor and I remember just hoping he would win the award,” Deaton said. “The voice is unmistakable. He’s a stylist. If you get beyond that, he picked great songs.”

Click for a gallery of Kenny Rogers over the years (photo: Jae S. Lee/The Tennessean)

Kenny Rogers’ roots in country music go back to listening to Hank Williams with his mother as she ironed clothes in the morning.

But he says musical influences are not what make country music — that’s determined by what people want to hear.

“I think what country music doesn’t get is that not everybody’s roots go back to Hank Williams,” he said. “Some of them start with Alabama. Some of them start with Taylor Swift. That doesn’t make them not country.”

As executive producer for the 47th annual CMA Awards, Robert Deaton’s job is to balance Wednesday night’s three-hour awards show with music that will appeal to fans who relate to Hank Williams’ traditional country, as well as those who identify with Swift’s straight-ahead pop style.

“I think the biggest thing I want to strive for is balance,” he said. “I’m talking about balance of who we are as a music and a genre because we are a lot of different things, you want to be current but you also want to pay tribute to the shoulders that we stand on.”

Before the ceremony — which was the first event in the museum’s new CMA Theater — Clement’s daughter Alison Clement-Bolton teared up when she said, “He’s just my cowdaddy. (The induction) just means he’s extraordinary, like I always knew he was. … He didn’t want to be famous. He just wanted to have fun, and he did that.”

Zac Brown Band capped the first night of its Southern Ground Music & Food Festival at the Lawn at Riverfront Park Friday night with a more than two-hour set riddled with radio hits, sometimes feverish musical jams and special guests that range from kid stars to stadium headliners.

The Nashville city skyline served as a backdrop for the Zac Brown Band’s intricate stage, and the band’s Ferris wheel provided some mood lighting for the evening that members kicked off with “Jump Right In.”

Brown took a moment to welcome fans to the second annual festival in Nashville, and then followed up with hits including “Keep Me in Mind” and “Toes” as fans looked on from a variety of places in the park including a grassy hill, an open field and if they had the right tickets, even from the stage.

Kenny Rogers was Brown’s first guest and a late addition to the festival’s lineup. Rogers, a 2013 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame and a fellow Georgia resident like Brown, sang his early hit “Just Dropped In” and later cracked a joke that he wanted the band members “to see what the ’60s were really like.”

Brown grinned broadly as Rogers continued to address the audience of thousands.

“I’ll just tell you, the good things they do outweigh the bad ones,” Rogers again joked with the crowd.

He sang “The Gambler” before leaving the stage.

Lennon and Maisy Stella, the sister actresses that portray Connie Britton’s character’s daughters on “Nashville,” were brought on stage next to perform “Ho Hey.” The Stella family has been traveling with the Zac Brown Band recently, and Brown brought the girls’ parents out to sing, too. The duo, known as The Stellas, covered Paul Simon’s “Slip Sliddin’ Away,” before Brown sweetly hugged 9-year-old Maisy and the family left the stage.

Amos Lee, who collaborated with Zac Brown Band on their current album “Uncaged,” unexpectedly showed up to perform with the group. Jason Mraz, who was an announced guest, brought Lennon & Maisy back out to help perform his song “I Won’t Give Up.”

“This is the night of my dreams,” Brown told the audience, “with all these incredible artists here tonight and all of you to share it with.”

Over the course of the evening, the band found time to play plenty more of its hits including “Sweet Annie,” “Goodbye in Her Eyes,” and “Colder Weather” in addition to a cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”

Brown saved the most popular guest – Kenny Chesney – for nearly the end of the night. The former tour mates performed Brown’s “Knee Deep” and a version of Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream.”

The band encored with their song “Uncaged,” which they played dressed in glow-in-the-dark masks and skeleton costumes, as well as a speedy cover of Charlie Daniels’ “Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

Fireworks filled the sky, reflecting off the Pinnacle building, after the show ended as fans made their way out of the park.

An improving Willie Nelson will make his festival date this Saturday in Nashville, after all, and he's bringing a friend.

A news release from festival organizers said Nelson has recuperated enough from a shoulder injury that he's able to keep his evening slot at the Zac Brown Band's Southern Ground Music & Food Festival. Warren Haynes will sit in with Nelson and his band for a handful of songs as well.

Nelson pulled out of the festival and postponed three other dates earlier this week after doctor's advised him to rest his shoulder for a week. The missed dates in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois are being rescheduled.